Written Answers Monday 17 November 2008

Scottish Executive

2014 Commonwealth Games

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what priorities it has set for the use of any money available from the National Lottery for the 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy.

Stewart Maxwell: On 7 November 2008, I wrote to Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, formally requesting the return of £150 million of lottery funds to Scotland to help us deliver Scotland’s legacy ambitions for the 2014 games. The return of the diverted lottery funds will allow us to capitalise on the inspiration, ambition and levels of engagement generated across Scotland by our winning bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

  My letter included a bid document which sets out examples of the sorts of initiatives across Scotland that could be funded with these lottery funds. This document has been published on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Sport/MajorEvents/Glasgow-2014/Commonwealth-games.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role the 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy will play in protecting Scotland’s heritage.

Stewart Maxwell: The Commonwealth Games provides an opportunity for visitors to see what Glasgow and Scotland has to offer as a destination. It’s a fantastic chance to showcase Scotland’s heritage. We have some magnificent buildings and inspiring scenery of which we are rightly proud. But they could be improved. We want our built and natural heritage to be inclusive, but also protected and enhanced – and better understood by young and old alike.

  Lottery funding would help us to restore some of Scotland’s neglected buildings and to make them, together with our natural heritage, more accessible.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role community and voluntary organisations will play in protecting Scotland’s heritage as part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy.

Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17496 on 17 November 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

  The games legacy’s support in protecting Scotland’s heritage fits within the remit of the greener sub-group.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role the 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy will play in achieving health improvement.

Stewart Maxwell: The government’s interim Games Legacy Plan will be published in December this year, as a forerunner to a full legacy plan to be published in summer 2009. It will set out our overarching purpose and the outcomes we wish to see achieved from the games legacy.

Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the impact of Part 2 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 and what plans it has to review operation of the legislation.

Michael Russell: Registers of Scotland maintain a public register where details of registrations, under the provisions of Part 2 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003, can be checked online at http://rcil.ros.gov.uk. As at 30 October 2008, there are 975 valid registrations of tenant’s interests in acquiring land from their landlord.

  As the key body in Scotland representing all sides of the agricultural tenanted sector, the Tenant Farming Forum is debating how the current agricultural tenancy legislation is operating with a view to offering advice to the Scottish ministers.

Ambulance Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial savings it expects the Scottish Ambulance Service to make as a consequence of the proposal to utilise routinely only one paramedic on air ambulance night-time flights.

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that safety, both in-flight and on the ground, is not compromised as a consequence of the proposal to utilise routinely only one paramedic on air ambulance night-time flights.

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that patients’ clinical needs are not comprised as a consequence of the proposal to utilise routinely only one paramedic on air ambulance night-time flights, particularly on long flights required in some parts of the Highlands and Islands.

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what clinical factors were taken into account when considering the proposal to utilise routinely only one paramedic on air ambulance night-time flights.

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial factors were taken into account when considering the proposal to utilise routinely only one paramedic on air ambulance night-time flights.

Nicola Sturgeon: Decisions taken about the crewing arrangements for the air ambulance service are operational ones for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). As such, the information sought is a matter for them and is not held centrally.

  The SAS have provided the Scottish Government with an assurance that every air ambulance mission is evaluated to ensure no adverse effects and all mission performance is monitored on an on-going basis. This issue was most recently discussed at public annual review of the SAS on 24 September 2008.

Carers

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to answer to question S3W-16720 by Shona Robison on 28 October 2008, whether the additional £4 million referred to will be used solely for the needs of disabled children.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government provided the additional £4 million, which I referred to in the answer to question S3W-16720, to ensure that the concordat commitment to make progress towards an additional 10,000 respite weeks a year is delivered in full by 2010-11.

  These additional weeks are intended to support a wide range of carers and those they are caring for. This will of course include disabled children and their families. The additional weeks have not been apportioned amongst specific care groups. It is at the discretion of local authorities how they allocate the additional weeks, based on local needs and priorities.

Child Protection

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the University of Strathclyde’s evaluation report on the pilot programme for nursery places for vulnerable two-year-olds has been delivered to the Scottish Government and when it will be published.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government has received a draft of the evaluation report which is going through standard quality assurance processes for social research, in partnership with the councils involved in the pilots. It will be published in due course.

Crime

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many racially aggravated crimes have been reported in the last three years, broken down by police force.

Kenny MacAskill: The latest available information on the number of racially aggravated crimes recorded by the eight Scottish police forces covers financial year 2005-06. The number of these crimes, covering the period 2003-04 to 2005-06 and broken down by police force, is given in the following table.

  Racially Aggravated Crimes Recorded by Police Force Area, 2003-04 and 2005-06

  

 Police Force
 Financial Year


 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central
 
 402
 575


 Dumfries and Galloway
 53
 85
 90


 Fife
 450
 464
 357


 Grampian
 459
 701
 671


 Lothian and Borders
 781
 913
 1,306


 Northern
 172
 215
 143


 Strathclyde
 2351
 2,620
 2,892


 Tayside
 290
 332
 405


 Total
 4,556
 5,732
 6,439



  Note: Central Scotland police force were unable to supply data for 2003-04.

  Please note that, as the 2003-04 data is only available for seven of the eight police forces, care must be taken when examining trends over time in the overall Scotland total.

  It is expected that the numbers of crimes would have been affected by the implementation (from 1 April 2004) of the Scottish Crime Recording Standard (SCRS), which means that no corroborative evidence is required initially to record a crime related incident as a crime if so perceived by the victim. This was expected to increase the numbers of minor crimes recorded by the police, such as minor crimes of vandalism, minor assaults and breach of the peace.

  This suggests that increases from 2003-04 to 2004-05 in the number of those crimes recorded as a part of a racist incident might have been affected by the new recording standard.

General Medical Services

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to release the £45 million relating to General Medical Services (GMS) for NHS Ayrshire and Arran for 2008-09 and also the carry forward allocation of £9.96 million from 2007-08.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Ayrshire and Arran received an allocation of £9.96 million in respect of their agreed carry forward from 2007-08 in the allocation letter issued on 31 July 2008.

  The funding in relation to GMS will be included within the allocation letter which will be issued on the 28 November 2008.

General Practitioners

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GPs were in practice in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Medical%20and%20Dental%20Trend (A).xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-16763 by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 October 2008, whether it will outline the proposals for the roll-out of the counterweight programme in each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer you to a letter sent by Shona Robison MSP, Minister for Public Health, to the Health and Sport Committee in October 2008 on "Inquiry into Health Inequalities". Annex B explains the rollout of Counterweight in each health board area.

Health

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether tests are carried out for thrombophilia and, if so, (a) where they are carried out, (b) how much a test costs and (c) what the criteria are for testing.

Shona Robison: Thrombophilia investigations are available at several haematology departments and molecular genetics laboratories in Scotland.

  There are a number of genetic mutations which give rise to thrombophilia, but Factor V Leiden is the most common relevant genetic abnormality. The test for Factor V Leiden costs between £80 and £100.

  The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 62 on Prophylaxis of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) recommends that all pregnant women with a personal or, family history of VTE in first or second degree relatives should be offered screening for thrombophilia.

  SIGN is now reviewing Guideline 62 and consultation on the revised draft guideline will take place during 2009. The SIGN guideline development group has devised a set of key questions covering issues such as risk factors and testing, and the key questions about the investigations which predict risk of VTE refer to testing for thrombophilia as well as to family history.

Health

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to produce medical guidelines on dealing with tick-borne diseases.

Shona Robison: Health Protection Scotland currently publishes guidance on tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, on its website and distributes guidance to NHS boards for dissemination to clinicians involved in treating members of the public.

  The Ministerial Group on Ticks and Lyme Disease has requested that awareness of Lyme disease should be raised amongst medical practitioners and guidance headed Tick Borne Disease in Scotland: Guidelines for Prevention and Management for Health Care Professionals is currently being produced. In addition a number of web-based organisations who provide educational materials to the medical profession are being encouraged to promote greater coverage of Lyme disease.

  The Royal College of General Practitioners has also recently agreed to give greater coverage to the subject of Lyme disease in all educational activities.

Health

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how reliable diagnostic tests are for Lyme disease and what can be done to improve their efficiency.

Shona Robison: Lyme disease is a notifiable disease, but clinical presentation of Lyme disease is highly variable and asymptomatic infections do occur, which can mean that a diagnosis based on clinical suspicion of the disease is often difficult and that some cases may go unreported. Recorded diagnoses of Lyme disease are therefore based on a combination of clinical findings and laboratory results. Laboratory results are only valid if they are performed in accredited laboratories such as the national Lyme Borrelioses Testing Service at Raigmore hospital. The sensitivity of these laboratory tests is very high if performed after a sufficient period of time to allow the patient to develop antibodies (usually six to eight weeks post tick bite).

  The Lyme Borreliosis Unit at Southampton General Hospital undertake continuous research and assessment on testing kits.

Health

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what information is currently available to GPs to assist them in diagnosing tick-borne diseases in general and Lyme disease in particular.

Shona Robison: Health Protection Scotland currently publishes guidance on tick borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, on its website and distributes guidance to NHS boards for dissemination to clinicians. The information can be accessed at:

  http://www.documents.hps.scot.nhs.uk/environmental/guidance-notes/lyme-disease.pdf.

Health

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what medical research is being carried out in the United Kingdom or Europe to address the problems of tick-borne diseases and how they affect humans.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is funding the Centre of Excellence in Epidemiology, Population Health and Infectious Disease Control at the Macaulay Institute, to study tick ecology to identify places most at risk of ticks, the effect of climate change and land use on ticks: http://www.macaulay.ac.uk/lyme/ .

  The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council are funding a joint Aberdeen University-Macaulay Institute project on the ecology of Lyme disease to estimate the prevalence of Borrelia in ticks and link these with variables such as hosts, climate and habitat etc. The use of data from research on prevalence of Lyme ticks will be used in guidelines for infectious disease practitioners in order to establish when to give early antibiotic prophylaxis following exposure.

  A Rural Economy and Land Use Programme-funded project "Assessing and communicating animal disease risks for countryside users" led by Dr Chris Quine at Forest Research, Roslin, will explore the most effective means of communicating Lyme disease risks to the public:

  http://www.relu.ac.uk/research/projects/Third%20Call/Quine.htm.

  Health Protection Scotland carry out a process of active enhanced surveillance and epidemiological analysis of cases for Scotland and an equivalent function is also carried out in England and Wales.

  The UK is also involved in a European Union-sponsored collaboration on concerted action on Lyme Borreliosis.

  The UK also participates in an international collaboration with the US on research on Lyme disease via the Centre for Disease Control.

  We are not aware of any therapeutic trials currently underway in the UK.

  Most work on Lyme disease is carried out on an international basis with the US authorities reportedly spending $340 million on research into Lyme disease in recent years.

  There is currently a study on randomised trials on the treatment of people with neuroborreliousis, including both North American and European disease strains, being carried out in Maryland, USA.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been admitted to hospital from a care home for elderly people with MRSA or Clostridium difficile in each of the last five years.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. NHS boards would be able to provide the member with information on how many admissions they have from care homes over the period requested. This would include those screened for MRSA. Testing for Clostridium difficile would only be carried out on admission if the person was symptomatic.

  A national MRSA screening programme is, however, being piloted in 2008-09 to screen all patients admitted to hospital, including those referred by care homes.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the use of vinyl gloves by health care staff and hospital visitors to reduce healthcare associated infections.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the appropriate usage of gloves by health care staff, including their use to prevent and control the spread of infection, is set out in each NHS board’s personal protective equipment guidance. Vinyl and nitrile gloves are examples of gloves available worn by staff.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all hospitals use biocidal rinses to clean clothing and bedding associated with healthcare-acquired infections.

Nicola Sturgeon: All hospital laundry should be laundered in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Department of Health Circular HSG (95)18: Hospital Laundry Arrangements for Used and Infected Linen. This circular, which is currently under review, includes instructions for the thermal disinfection of linen. During infection outbreaks, each NHS board would also follow the NHSScotland Code of Practice for the Local Management of Hygiene and Healthcare Associated Infection. The code is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/05/19315/36624 .

  Paragraph 5.3, Chapter 5 of the code (Prevention and Control of Infection Guidance) describes how laundry should be handled during outbreaks and how incidents should be documented by staff.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what process is used in the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile by each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The processes used by each laboratory will vary depending on the size of the NHS board and the frequency of testing required. All NHS boards’ testing kits are approved nationally.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what tests were used to diagnose the cases of Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital and how this compares with other hospitals.

Nicola Sturgeon: I am advised by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that the technique used to diagnose Clostridium difficile cases at the Vale of Leven Hospital is the Teklab Toxin A/B Quikchek Kit. All NHS boards use testing kits that are approved nationally for use in detecting Clostridium difficile so most products will be similar.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-14745 by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 July 2008, what changes are proposed in surveillance systems and reporting following the NHS boards’ six-month review of Clostridium difficile cases by hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: Good progress is being made by NHS boards and Health Protection Scotland in implementing these key action areas of the Scottish Government’s National HAI Action Plan published on 7 August 2008. The action plan is available from the HAI Task Force website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/19529/2005/actionplans.

  Most notable changes include the introduction, from October 2008, of specific Scottish guidance on prevention and control of Clostridium difficile associated disease (CDAD) in health care settings in Scotland and the development of a standard template and guidance on local surveillance for use by all NHS boards, which will be finalised by the end of November 2008. NHS boards are also actively implementing all the requirements of CEL 30(2008): Prudent Antimicrobial Prescribing: The Scottish Action Plan For Managing Antibiotic Resistance and Reducing Antibiotic Related CDAD. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is also on track to implement the Clostridium difficile root cause analysis tool, which is to be used by boards to investigate adverse outcomes including death.

  Progress by NHS boards and key stakeholders in addressing all the action areas in the action plan is being monitored by the HAI Task Force and I am kept regularly informed of developments.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-15591 by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 September 2008, whether further analysis of the death rate, referred to on page 12 of Independent Review of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease at the Vale of Leven Hospital from December 2007 to June 2008, has been completed and, if so, whether it has been presented to the area procurator fiscal and when it will be published.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Outbreak Control Team (OCT) have completed their report and a copy has been provided to the Area Procurator Fiscal for Argyll and Clyde, to assist in his on-going investigation. However, the publication of part or all of this report at this time may have a prejudicial effect on any action that follows the investigation. It is unlikely, therefore, that any part of the OCT report will be published until the investigation by the Area Procurator Fiscal is complete.

Higher Education

Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Joint Future Thinking Taskforce on Universities expects to confirm its final position.

Fiona Hyslop: The taskforce met for the last time in September. We reflected on the views of stakeholders expressed over the summer and the work of the Scottish Funding Council to review its processes and procedures in readiness for its new role.

  I am pleased to mark the successful conclusion of the taskforce’s work today by publishing four documents:

  New Horizons is now formally confirmed as the taskforce’s final position and is being re-published today with a minor single amendment to clarify one of the universities’ challenges.

  Taking Forward New Horizons builds on this by summarising the feedback received over the summer, clarifying a number of aspects and confirming the next steps.

  The funding council have set out how they plan to respond to the new agenda described in New Horizons. This approach has been agreed by the taskforce and is published today in a separate document.

  And finally, we have also published the terms of reference for the Tripartite Advisory Group.

  These four documents are being published today on the government’s website here:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/hetaskforce.

  While today marks the end of the taskforce, it also represents a new beginning in terms of our approach and relationships. There is much work to be taken forward now – by government, by universities and by the funding council – to ensure our ambitions for the sector and for Scotland as a whole are met.

Housing

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made since May 2007 in providing accessible housing, broken down by the number of units built in each local authority area.

Stewart Maxwell: There is no central source of data on the number of accessible houses built in Scotland.

Housing

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new homes have been built in the last three years.

Stewart Maxwell: The information requested is published on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuildSummary.

  The last table in the workbook shows the number of completions by sector for each year up to 2007.

  The published tables will be updated on 25 November to include starts and completions to end-June 2008.

Housing

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is available to allow housing associations to access the £100 million to be brought forward under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme if their local authority is unable to match fund by 40%.

Stewart Maxwell: There is no requirement for match funding from individual local authorities to be available to allow housing associations to access the accelerated £100 million funding.

  I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-15759 on 16 September, S3W-16452 on 26 September and S3W-17424 on 11 November 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fiscal fines were imposed by 30 September 2008 following the implementation of the reform of summary justice.

Kenny MacAskill: From 10 March 2008 to 30 September 2008 Procurators Fiscal offered 24,953 direct measures involving a fine (i.e. fiscal fines and fiscal fines combined with compensation offers).

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total value of fines imposed by procurators fiscal has been since the implementation of the reform of summary justice and how much was collected by 30 September 2008.

Kenny MacAskill: Between 10 March 2008 and 30 September 2008, procurators fiscal offered direct measures involving a fine (i.e. fiscal fines and fiscal fines combined with compensation offers) to the value of £2.5 million. As at 30 September 2008, £0.7 million had been collected. These direct measures are offered with the option of paying by weekly or fortnightly instalments of between £10 and £200. The value of the uncollected fines therefore includes fines which are in the process of being paid. Where payment is not made, the new enforcement powers introduced in the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 are being used to ensure that payment is made.

Lifelong Learning

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government and key stakeholders on the promotion of the First World Forum on Lifelong Learning.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government had no discussions with the UK Government on the promotion of the First World Forum on Lifelong Learning. Scottish Government officials work closely with the UK Government’s Joint International Unit, which serves the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. This unit had no knowledge of the World Forum on Lifelong Learning.

Livestock

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the result was of any consultation with the farming industry to assess the potential impact on Scottish farmers, in terms of cost of reduced exports, of undertaking a compulsory bluetongue vaccination scheme.

Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-17468 on 14 November 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Finance

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will fund any new (a) health centres, (b) hospitals and (c) other NHS facilities it intends to build between May 2007 and April 2011, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: Capital and revenue funds are allocated on a formula basis to geographic NHS boards for them to identify their spending requirements and to prioritise these in line with available resources. NHS boards develop long-term financial plans and it is for them, when developing these plans, to take account of infrastructure investment. NHS boards across Scotland received £324 million pounds of capital funding for 2008-09, and have been notified of indicative capital allocations of £329 million and £334 million for 2009-10 and 2010-11 to build new fit-for-purpose facilities, and upgrade existing facilities.

NHS Finance

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) health centres, (b) hospitals and (c) other NHS facilities it intends to have constructed by the NHS within the current spending review period using the Scottish Futures Trust as the preferred method of procurement, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: All existing investment plans identified by NHS boards are unaffected by the establishment of the Scottish Futures Trust. The Scottish Futures Trust will establish the hub Initiative which will be developed over the next year as a means of improving the delivery of community based facilities.

NHS Finance

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) health centres, (b) hospitals and (c) other NHS facilities it intends to have constructed by the NHS within the current spending review period using PPP or PFI as the preferred method of procurement, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: For information on those PPP projects which will be constructed by the NHS within the current spending review period using PPP or PFI as the preferred method of procurement, I refer the member to the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Unit’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp . This includes both project done deals and project future deals tables which provide timescales where held on the various stages of procurement of the projects contained within them.

NHS Services

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new health centres opened in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new (a) hospitals and (b) other NHS facilities opened in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new NHS facilities opened in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new (a) health centres, (b) hospitals and (c) other NHS facilities it intends to build between May 2007 and April 2011, broken down by NHS board.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) health centres, (b) hospitals and (c) other NHS facilities are under construction and when construction started, broken down by NHS board and showing how they were procured.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) health centres, (b) hospitals and (c) other NHS facilities have been constructed by the NHS in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board and showing whether they were procured by the Scottish Executive or the NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. Decisions on the provision of new hospitals, health centres and other facilities are devolved to NHS boards. However, we are in the process of collecting the information from NHS boards and a consolidated list of the information provided by them will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 46919).

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many professional staff allied to medicine have been employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division Scotland under the Allied Health Professions staffing group:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Overall%20trend.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division Scotland:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Total%20level%20trend.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many doctors were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. Data from 1997 to 2006:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFA02_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Data for 2007, click on NHS Region and Board Overall Staff in Post Summary:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Overall staff.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  From 2007, workforce data has changed due to the reclassification of NHS staff under new Agenda for Change bandings. Doctors are now split into medical (Hospital Community and Public Health Services) and General Medical Services (GPs). Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified nurses were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division Scotland. Data from 1997 to 2006:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFE02_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  For 2007, due to the reclassification of NHS staff under Agenda for Change comparable figures for qualified nursing staff are not available. Data on nursing and midwifery staff for 2007 is available at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5352.html#staff_in_post.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many nursing staff were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. Data from 1997 to 2006:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFE02_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Data on nursing and midwifery staff for 2007:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5352.html#staff_in_post.

  From 2007, workforce data has changed due to the reclassification of NHS staff under new Agenda for Change bandings. Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ancillary staff were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. Data from 1997 to 2006:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFA02_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  From 2007, workforce data has changed due to the reclassification of NHS staff under new Agenda for Change bandings. Ancillary staff are now classified under Support Services. Data for 2007: All other staff in post:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=All other staff(A).xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many administrative and clerical staff were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. Data from 1997 to 2006:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFA02_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Data for 2007:All other staff in post,:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=All other staff(A).xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  From 2007, workforce data has changed due to the reclassification of NHS staff under new Agenda for Change bandings. Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many engineers, electricians and other skilled tradespeople were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. Data from 1997 to 2006 is available by adding Works and Trades groups together.

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFG01_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  From 2007, workforce data has changed due to the reclassification of NHS staff under new Agenda for Change bandings. Skilled trades staff are now classified under Support Services. Data for 2007: All other staff in post:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=All other staff(A).xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many student nurses were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not centrally held. Student nurses (and student midwives) are not employed by NHS Scotland as they are students in higher education institutions. However, information is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland on nursing and midwifery student intakes and students in training:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Student%20intakes%20and %20students%20in%20training.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many trainee doctors were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland. Data on the number of post graduate medical training doctors from 1997 to 2006:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFA02_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Data for 2007: Doctors in Training - Compliance with the new deal by organisation and grade:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFB17_jun08.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  From 2007, workforce data has changed due to the reclassification of NHS staff under new Modernising Medical Careers. Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) registrars and (b) consultants were employed in the NHS in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is available from 1997 to 2006 from Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland:

  www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFA02_HB_REG.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Comparable data for Registrars for 2007 is not centrally available due to the reclassification of Registrars. However, data for consultants is available: Consultats by specialty, time, NHS board and region (headc ount and whole-time equivalent).

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=WFB10_B11_HB_REG_MAR08 .xls&pContentDispositionType=attachment.

  Information as at September 2008 is due to be published in December 2008.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants employed in the NHS in each year since 1997 also opted to work in the private sector, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the light of a substantial reduction in nursing teaching in dermatology, what steps it is taking to ensure that nurses are adequately trained to manage dermatological conditions.

Shona Robison: The responsibility for determining the educational requirements for all pre-registration nursing education programmes rests with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). NMC decides the standards of expertise to be maintained, in partnership with the higher education institutions, and their advice underpins the contents of the courses.

  NHS boards are responsible for planning services in their area and for securing the staff. It is for them to make sure that, in partnership with their local further and higher education institutions, appropriate additional education and training for nurses is available to meet the clinical needs and service developments in their area.

Police

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is undertaking with (a) the NHS, (b) the Scottish Prison Service, (c) individual police forces, (d) the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and (e) local authorities to improve access to suitable medical services for people in police custody.

Kenny MacAskill: Provision of medical services in police custody is determined at a local level, and each police force in Scotland has arrangements in place for the health care of those in its custody. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland Health and Medical Service Reference Group, on which the Scottish Government is represented, is currently considering the range of existing arrangements for care in custody with a view to identifying best practice models which can be deployed to suit local circumstances.

  In January 2009, Tayside Police and NHS Tayside will begin a three year pilot partnership to provide Police Surgeon Services, covering custody health care, forensic services, and training and development. This has been part funded by the Scottish Government.

  The Scottish Government, working with ACPOS, the Scottish Ambulance Service and the NHS, has also commissioned research on drunk and incapable people. This aims to identify the potential scale of the problem in Scotland, and to identify different models of support practised by all relevant agencies including local authorities, both in Scotland and elsewhere, to establish the key elements of successful approaches. A set of conclusions and recommendations on how best to manage people who are drunk and incapable to help alleviate the unnecessary pressure on emergency services is expected in the New Year.

School Meals

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what basis it used to estimate the cost to local councils of implementing free school meals from August 2009 for pupils whose parents or carers are in receipt of both maximum child and working tax credits.

Adam Ingram: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16916 on 29 October 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

School Meals

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make extra resources available to councils to enable them to harmonise the eligibility criteria for free school meals, clothing grants and music tuition fees.

Adam Ingram: Funding has already been provided for the period 2008 to 2011 in the local government settlement. Therefore additional resources do not need to be made available. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Scottish Government

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Cabinet meetings each law officer has attended since May 2007.

Bruce Crawford: I refer to the member to the answer to question S3W-12165 on 30 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Teachers

Keith Brown (Ochil) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive for each language for which there is a recognised secondary school teaching qualification how many (a) higher education institutions offer the qualification in that language and (b) people graduated with the qualification, in each year between 1999 and 2007.

Fiona Hyslop: The first table shows the number of teacher education institutions offering teaching qualifications in the languages shown.

  

 Language Teaching Qualification
 Number of HEIs Offering TQ


 Community languages (e.g. Urdu, Bengali) 
 1


 English
 7


 Gaelic
 2


 Greek
 Not currently offered at any TEI


 Latin
 1


 Modern foreign languages
 7



  The second table shows the number of people graduating with a teaching qualification, split by subject, from 1999 to 2007.

  

 Subject by Teaching Qualification
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007


 Community languages
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 English
 165
 140
 125
 150
 125
 130
 235
 330
 325


 Gaelic
 5
 0
 0
 5
 5
 5
 5
 5
 10


 Greek
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Latin
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Modern foreign languages:


 French
 60
 60
 50
 60
 35
 70
 60
 75
 75


 German
 10
 20
 15
 10
 20
 20
 10
 15
 10


 Spanish
 15
 10
 5
 15
 5
 5
 5
 5
 10


 Italian
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Russian
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Other 
 5
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 20
 10



  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

  Note: Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest five. Zero, one and two have been rounded to zero.